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I’d like to go back to the boxed lower control arms and a sway bar. Can any one tell what the previous owner did here on my car? And what’s everyone’s opinion on original
boxed lower control arms versus new manufacture ones. Thanks —Billy
I don't know why anyone would want to remove the boxed lowers and sway bar That is not going to help in any manner that I know of. Someone installed the anti-hop spring air bags, but they serve a different purpose than the boxed lowers with sway bar. I have no opinion regarding OEM VS aftermarket lowers, but the OEM units work just fine for a "stock" car, IMHO.
Outside of the airbags, it looks to be mostly stock unboxed lowers. My car is a pure hotrod and nowhere near how it was when born. I used UMI for a rear suspension upgrade of my car over the winter, so far I like it. https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...nstall-140057/
The car was owned by 1/4 mile racer Bob Voss. He passed away, his family sold the car, so I can’t even ask him what he did on the car and why. There’s a lot of odd things that I’ve corrected. There’s a custom oil pan that holds 10 quarts which I have to change. He had a 4.66 gear in the rear.
Why would he have put the air bags in there?
So any theories anyone has, I’m very interested in hearing.
I’m gonna change back to the boxed control arms and sway bar. —Billy
Re-examine the pics. He removed the bushings from the control arms and put in a solid mount. Can't quite tell if he did the same thing on the body end of the control arm but my guess is they also have been modified the same way.
Also those control arms are not even drilled for a sway bar and the metal appears to be substantially thicker than a standard unboxed control arm. I wonder if those are custom fabricated lower control arms.
Don't see any reason why you couldn't drill them out. How thick is the metal on the lower control arms?
You also can box them with an aftermarket kit (welding required) or weld your own hunk of steel in there.
Why air bags? Air bags can improve the cars ability to launch evenly when drag racing. The goal is to take off straight and not waiver to the side. This is accomplished with the right pressures in the bag, usually a few pounds more in the pass side than the driver side. The previous owner it seems, wanted to go fast in a straight line, hence the removal of the sway bar.
You could change those rear lower controls arms OR weld/box and drill the current ones to mount a sway bar, if thats your goal.
Or install these, still need to be tack welded at least. The ones in the above post.
If the cars VIN doesn't start with 344 then this is correct.
You cant simply drill holes and install a sway bar. The sway bar "load" and bolt clamp force will collapse a non-reinforced LCA.
The LCAs would need reinforcing like the OEMs. Bottom gussets to "box" in the channel and through tubes to run the bolts through.
Or simply find the correct FE2 parts and install. Are the UCAs OEM?
LCA & UCA = upper & lower control arms.
Aftermarket kits are available for GM A-bodies.
Thanks for all the advice. I’m gonna just replace the current LCAs with the proper boxed ones and add the sway bar. I don’t have easy access to a lift to get under there to see if the UCAs are original but is it’s safe to assume they are. Would a racer have changed those or do they not matter as much? —Billy
Billy, is the car a 344 VIN car or other? If other... this is the correct Non FE2 components.
Why anyone would change out FE2 to Non-FE2 is anyone's guess.
I've seen cases where just the sway bar was removed for straight-line racing/weight savings.
Still makes zero sense to me. You lose stability for the minimum weight loss.
I'm just following along. This rear-end maybe one of a 1/2 dozen this vehicle has seen in its lifetime? At some point maybe the PO (Bob Voss) elected to simply swap out the entire rear-end from another A-Body when he was done racing? Is the 4.22 still installed? Can you even upgrade to a 4.22 from the original rear-end? Was the previous rear-end completely destroyed and someone added this one for auction sale when Bob passed?
Apparently, Bob never raced this particular car (from the write-up).
Bob and his wife bought their first "family" car in 1968; an Oldmobile 442! Even though it was financed, it wasn't long before Bob was stripping the car down for racing! (That car is long gone, now, but he always wanted another, and that's the car in this auction!)
Hey guys, my mechanic is installing new boxed Lower control arms right now. He has one in, but the other doesn’t look right. Is there a right and a left? And what is that pre bent metal piece that lays in the idents? —Billy
I can’t look at the part, it’s at the installer. OPGI doesn’t list a part number. Here is what I bought. Thanks I’ll check that link and research furthe
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I "think" what you're asking about regarding the pre-bent metal piece are these before they're welded into place? I don't know how the OPGI manufacturer makes their LCAs but they "appear" to be boxed LCA inserts welded into place?
They're not exactly the "same", but I think you get the idea?
Yes those are the metal pieces I’m talking about. So they are inserts. So if I’m understanding correctly they are not needed with boxed LCA? And maybe just for converting non boxed?
from OPGI : “
Converts stock control arms to a boxed-style
Converts the stock lower rear control arm to a boxed-style (like the original with a factory rear sway bar). Includes two mild steel inserts that need to be welded into stock, non-boxed rear lower control arms.
Correct. If you purchased the parts I referenced in the above Post (Part# KR00445), those "style" inserts have already been welded into place. So you don't require or need the Converts stock control arms to a boxed-style inserts. The manufacturer most likely makes hundreds/thousands of the open LCAs, then they weld inserts into place to create boxed LCAs. Not the exact same inserts it would appear since the Part # you have purchased "appear" much more heavy duty than the conversion type inserts.
Thanks for the advice guys. So as stated above these inserts I thought I needed, came with my sway bar as a kit. So I didn’t need them with boxed control arms it’s for converting non boxed.
The job is now done. It still looks like these new boxed LCAs need to be a right and a left. Take a look at them in these photos that were just installed You’ll see a flange coming off to the left. I would think the other LCA would have the flange on the right. I think it’s fine like this but I’d like to know why. What ya think?
Thanks. Great to hear.
Additionally I had a sway bar reinstalled. It was really tough to catch the bolts and at first it rested against the differential. After some heating and prying it now has about 3/16 of an inch space from the differential. My mechanic theorizes that the rear is a heavy duty one maybe not original and when they put it in or changed the LCAs, they couldn’t get the sway bar to fit so they left it off. He said it’s a monster rear and with the boxed LCAs and the 1 inch sway, I have an awesome set up. I’d like to indentify the rear if anybody has a clue by looking at this photo of a number. It has a W27 cover which I’m already aware was only available in 70. So the previous owner prob just put that on cuz it does look cooler than the stick cover. —Billy
June 15th, 2020, 07:11 AM
That is not going to help in any manner that I know of. Someone installed the anti-hop spring air bags, but they serve a different purpose than the boxed lowers with sway bar. I have no opinion regarding OEM VS aftermarket lowers, but the OEM units work just fine for a "stock" car, IMHO.
